Peter Hamby • January 6, 2026

Manospheres of Influence

The disaffected young men who helped elect Trump are fed up with high prices, worried about A.I., and frustrated by the president’s neocon turn. And, according to exclusive new polling data, they’re souring on Trump just as they turned on Joe Biden.

Julia Ioffe • January 5, 2026

Neocon Don

Trump’s largely consequence-free projection of military power in Iran and elsewhere laid the groundwork for last weekend’s shocking action in Venezuela—and validated a new framework for MAGA-style interventionism. But what happens when Xi starts playing by the same rules?

Leigh Ann Caldwell • January 4, 2026

The Four Horsemen of Capitol Hill’s Apocalypse

A close look at the challenges, opportunities, and curveballs awaiting the Big Four congressional leaders in the new year: the M.T.G. mutiny, G.O.P. majority shrinkage, another shutdown, A.C.A. headaches, and Trump.

John Heilemann • December 30, 2025

The World According to Ezra

The Times columnist, podcast impresario, and would-be Democratic Party uber-reformer recaps the past year in politics—and explains why, despite his ongoing sense of alarm, he’s closing out 2025 feeling moderately hopeful.

Abby Livingston • December 29, 2025

The Real House Members of Potomac

Ready or not, the midterm primary season is just days away. And, as analyst Jacob Rubashkin explains, just about anything can happen… including a congressional surprise in Texas and a Senate upset in Michigan.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 28, 2025

The G.O.P.’s Midterm Polling Paradox

A few months ago, Republicans thought they had the country on autopilot. Now the party is stuck with a souring economy, beholden to Trump for turnout—whether they like it or not—and staring down an increasingly unpredictable midterm map.

Peter Hamby • December 23, 2025

The ICE Storm

A candid conversation with L.A. police chief Jim McDonnell about the complicated reality of ICE raids, hyperbolic crime narratives, and preparing for the World Cup and 2028 Olympics in the second Trump era.

Abby Livingston • December 22, 2025

“The Mini Mamdanis Are Coming”

Dan Goldman, the popular resistance-lib congressman repping downtown Manhattan and much of brownstone Brooklyn, was a star on MSNBC. But in a year in which his rival was just endorsed by Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Democrats fear he could be among the biggest names to fall in a Tea Party–style reckoning.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 22, 2025

Jeffries’s Triumph & Stefanik’s Holiday Blues

This could have been the week the House minority leader secured his future speakership. Also, one more MAGA member learns that blind loyalty to Trump is a one-way street.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 21, 2025

Lame Duck Soup

Trump’s pronouncement that he’s “done” with legislation for the next three years has rattled and confounded House Republicans, who desperately need some kind of agenda to have any hope of retaining their majority. Good luck in ’26…

Peter Hamby • December 19, 2025

The Hidden Trump Factor in the Warners War

Wall Street guru William Cohan on what’s next in the battle for Warner Bros., and the inevitability of presidential meddling.

Julia Ioffe • December 18, 2025

The Prodigal Son-In-Law Returns

Jared Kushner has quietly reemerged as an off-the-books diplomat in Trump’s second term, securing a ceasefire in Gaza and now negotiating with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. And foreign-policy types, who often disdained Kushner during Trump I, are mostly happy to have him back.

Peter Hamby • December 17, 2025

Vance in His Pants

Everyone knows that J.D. Vance is desperately positioning himself to become Trump’s heir apparent, and our exclusive data suggests that he has the field almost to himself. But his popularity depends on his closeness to Trump, who could change his mind at any minute, for any reason.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 16, 2025

Midterms in the Garden of Good and Evil

With an election cycle looming, immense power has been invested in the congressional campaign committee chairs responsible for delivering the House: Suzan DelBene and Richard Hudson. I sat down with both of them to hear their dueling plans for ’26 and why they’re more bullish than ever.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 14, 2025

Chuck & Mike’s Freaky Friday

In a sudden inversion of political fortunes, the Senate minority leader is no longer in the party’s doghouse, while the House speaker is facing revolts within his own caucus.